Apple quietly releases 4K monitor support for OS X, is a 4K Apple Cinema Display in the works?

4K looks to be the next big thing in computing. We've seen 4K cameras, 4K video recording, 4K cellphones, and at CES, we saw a lot more 4Kmonitors, too. Now, in a new Mac OS beta, Apple has improved support for 4K displays, prompting us to wonder if Apple has its own 4K screen in the works.

The new feature is present in the first beta for Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.3. Previously, if you plugged a 4K monitor into a newish Mac, you'd be able to take advantage of the real estate just by having a huge amount of extra space. But with the update, a late-2013 MacBook Pro gets the same options that it that are on the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, namely to run pixel doubled for extra sharpness. Apparently the update also provides the ability to run 4K monitors at 60Hz.

It's pretty debatable if this means anything for what Apple has in the pipelines (trying to guess Apple's plans is about as fruitful as reading tea leaves), but it does lead us to wonder if there will be a 4K cinema display from Apple in the near future. Apple displays are known for their quality, and we're willing to bet that there are a number of photographers out there who would relish the chance to work at 4K treating it like a Retina Display. But even if that's not in the cards, this brings extra controls and pixel doubling to other monitors, which will make using them that much better and easier.